The Lich Without a Soul Vessel

Heathermere arrived in a hurry, a group of mages close behind. "Stand down. We're taking control here."

"See this? A Magic Overcharge Ring — also called the Ptolemy Ring. The moment I die, it detonates, reducing everything within several dozen cubits to absolute nothing," the Fox Mage Tony Shulman said.

Heathermere's face changed. "What is it you want?" The Magic Overcharge Ring was a ring-shaped device, notoriously difficult to forge and prohibitively expensive, also known as the Ptolemy Ring after the great alchemist Ptolemy, who'd crafted it drawing on the power of the stars. Originally designed to model planetary motion, it had later been found capable of accumulating stellar energy indefinitely, and under a specific method, could reduce the surrounding area to a void. The cost of crafting one ran so high that Ptolemy had only ever made eight — and legend held that upon realizing its potential as a weapon, he'd destroyed five of the rings then in his possession along with the formula itself. No one had expected two of them to still exist.

"Nothing much. This floating city is a fine thing, and I want it," Tony Shulman said.

"That's impossible. The floating city will never fall into your hands," Heathermere said.

"Then it only has one road left — destruction. And I doubt you want to see that happen. Such a fine floating city. I'd suggest you all back off and think this through — or the moment the core is destroyed, this whole city comes crashing down," Tony Shulman said with a faint smile, every bit the picture of a man holding all the cards. He took a step forward.

The mages retreated a step without meaning to.

"You're bold," Heathermere said through gritted teeth.

"Boldness is about the only virtue I've got, being a fox," Tony Shulman said.

Heathermere studied him, and he studied her in return. After a moment, she raised a hand. "Fall back."

The floating city had barely cleared its supports, rising less than three hundred cubits before coming to a halt in midair. Both those on the ground and those airborne watched, everyone caught in a moment of frozen stalemate.

Evan had teleported straight to the spot where he'd sensed the strongest disturbance, arriving above the city, not far from the central magic tower. He'd already caught wind of what Tony Shulman was doing — not through his own senses, but through Xiaoshuang's shared sight and hearing. He hadn't expected her perception to have grown so much further already, sharp enough now to catch even their spoken words.

Clearly divine power had pushed her abilities considerably further. Hearing the mention of the Ptolemy Ring, Evan's own face changed. He'd read about the device once in the Registry of Lost Magical Artifacts, and had assumed nothing of the sort still existed in the world — and yet here were two of them, appearing out of nowhere.

He recalled what the registry had described: the ring had absorbed enough stellar energy across more than two thousand years that, if it truly detonated, the core would be destroyed beyond any recovery.

And it was bound to Tony Shulman's own life force. What could they possibly do about that?

For a moment, Evan found himself genuinely torn — was there really no choice but to give in to the man's demand?

"Xiaoshuang, can you use your divine power to block his own senses?" Evan asked.

"I can, but the ring's tied to his own presence — cut that connection off, and it might trigger the detonation anyway," Xiaoshuang said.

"We don't understand the ring's mechanism well enough. If only we could get right beside him. Is there any way to slip in close?" Evan asked.

"Not easily. I'm good at hiding, but he's an Arcanist — I've no confidence I could stay hidden that close to him," Xiaoshuang said.

"Then let's find Heathermere and see if they have a better approach," Evan said.

Xiaoshuang nodded, and they made their way to the central tower, where Heathermere and four legendary mages were in conference. Seeing Evan arrive, she asked, "How did you get here?"

"I teleported the instant it happened. I've gotten a rough picture of the situation through Xiaoshuang's own gift. What options do we have?" Evan said, dispensing with pleasantries.

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"Xiaoshuang can sense what's happening inside? We have no idea ourselves — they've blocked every magical sensor in there entirely," Heathermere said.

"That's right, she can sense it. Do you have any way to counter the Ptolemy Ring?" Evan asked.

"Xiaoshuang, tell us what's happening in there," Heathermere said.

Xiaoshuang conjured a small wand and pointed, and an image bloomed in the air — a live feed, their voices audible clearly alongside it.

"Boss, are we just going to sit here at a standstill?" one of Tony's men asked.

"They'll come around. It's a deadlock — if I die, the floating city comes down with me, and Hollingburton's reputation goes down with it," Tony Shulman said with a wicked smile, brimming with confidence.

"Boss, doesn't this go against what the Church wants from us?"

"The Church. Who do they think they are? I'm the one using them," Tony said, giving the man a suspicious look.

The man hurried to add, "I was only asking."

"The Church is no friend of ours. If I find out anyone here's been colluding with them, don't expect me to go easy," Tony said coldly.

All of this played out clearly before Heathermere and the others — confirmation that the Church really had a hand in this. Evan and Heathermere exchanged a look.

"We will not compromise," Marantel growled.

"Agreed. We'd sooner see it crash than give in to them," Heathermere said, firm. "Give in once, and anyone can bully Hollingburton whenever they please."

"There's no room for leniency with terrorists like this. Can we strike back at the Church?" Evan asked.

"Not enough evidence. We can't take the word of a pack of terrorists against an institution as vast as the Church. 'Terrorists' — good word for it, actually. Fits this bunch of madmen perfectly," Heathermere said. Evan broke out in a cold sweat — he'd slipped that term in without quite meaning to, old habits from his past life dying hard.

Evan understood well enough what Heathermere meant. The Church would simply deny everything, and the word of a handful of terrorists carried no weight at all against them — even if every word they'd said were true, it wouldn't matter. The Church was simply too powerful, an institution Hollingburton had to defer to even now, its independence secured only through its favorable position.

"Is there any way to deal with the Ptolemy Ring itself?" This was what mattered most to Evan — solve that problem, and everything else followed.

Heathermere didn't answer directly, turning instead to Xiaoshuang. "Could you slip in close to Shulman?"

"Xiaoshuang and I could get near him using stealth, but even a faint magical disturbance would be impossible to hide entirely — especially from someone who's both an Arcanist and a Great Knight," Evan said.

"That's a real problem," Heathermere said, frowning, the other Arcanists frowning along with her. Marantel spoke up suddenly. "There's one option. Several of us could act together, scrambling the magical currents in there, throwing the elements into chaos."

"But elemental chaos would only make stealth magic more likely to fail," Evan said.

"I have a legendary item on hand — an invisibility bracelet. It should protect you both," Marantel said.

"And once we're inside, close to him — what then?" Evan asked.

Heathermere smiled at him. "The Ptolemy Ring is a legendary item in its own right. How could a mere Arcanist ever hope to fully command it? Shulman's presence connects to the ring, true enough, but it can't be a seamless bond — he didn't forge it himself, and his own strength falls short of what it demands. Once you're inside, within ten cubits of him, first draw out his presence, then mimic it, and finally replace it entirely. As far as the ring is concerned, his connection to it will simply cease to exist. The moment it fails, we strike with everything we have, and this ends."

"I understand. Let's move, then," Evan said.

"Everyone — success or failure rests on this. Return to your own towers and use their amplification to blanket the area below with interference, blinding them completely. Anyone who thinks to cross Hollingburton is already a dead man," Heathermere said, cold and decisive.

Marantel handed Evan the bracelet, explained how to use it, and flew off at once toward his own tower.

"Cole, go with Wang and the others, take position outside Shulman's location. The moment Wang succeeds, send the signal. Begin now," Heathermere said, moving with real efficiency.

Evan, Xiaoshuang, and Cole slipped into a room near Shulman and waited for the magical disturbance to take hold. A moment later, Heathermere's voice reached them through the link. "Wang, it's up to you now."

The stone chamber flared with sudden turbulence — Heathermere's group had already begun. Evan triggered the bracelet on his wrist, and his form vanished instantly. Cole, seeing him gone, pressed forward a little further himself.

Tony Shulman felt the magical elements around him grow chaotic, exactly as he'd expected. He raised a hand coldly, gesturing toward the doorway — he knew someone would be watching, but none of this could break his connection to the Ptolemy Ring. He gave a cold laugh.

He never noticed the faint breath of air passing by, assuming it nothing more than a natural effect of the elemental disturbance. Evan slipped in, carefully avoiding the thirteen men present, and made his way into the core chamber. There sat the overcharge ring — the Ptolemy Ring itself — mounted on its pedestal, its core like a swirling miniature sun, ringed by a three-dimensional magical array, energy passing outward in waves through an enclosing force field.

The ring itself was elliptical, gleaming with starlight, a great point of brightness drifting slowly at its center, as though the whole thing carried some hypnotic pull. Evan found his eyes unable to look away. He closed them, and after a long moment, opened them again.

What he saw made his stomach drop. Xiaoshuang had already left his shoulder and was floating near the ring itself, studying it — without her own invisibility active. Fortunate that all thirteen men remained outside the chamber, leaving no one inside to see her.

Evan grabbed her at once. She started to cry out, but he shushed her, finger pressed to his lips, and she held herself in check, flying quickly back to his shoulder.

Footsteps sounded at the door, and a head poked in, glancing around, finding everything as it should be. It withdrew, shaking its head.